John 7, Part 1

Chapter 7 is a brief pause in the revelation of who Jesus is. Chapter 7 shows the reactions of various groups to the revelations and claims of Jesus. The first reaction or response to Jesus came from his half-brothers. The incident teaches us how to answer mockery, ridicule, sarcasm, and unbelief. We answer such reactions by proclaiming the same three facts that Jesus proclaimed

Withdrawal to Galilee

John 7:1–2 ESV

1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.

Jesus was forced to withdraw and minister in Galilee. The reason was tragic: the religionists throughout Judaea and Jerusalem had reacted so violently against Him that they sought to kill Him. The word “sought” is continuous action. They kept on seeking to kill Him.

Just how long Jesus was away from Judaea and Jerusalem is not known. Ideas range from six months to one and a half years. On His last journey into Jerusalem, He was seen attending the Passover (Jn. 6:4). In this chapter, Chapter 7, He is seen attending the Feast of Tabernacles (v.10).

Jesus withdrew from conflict and danger so that He might continue to minister.

Galilee was not as prominent as Judaea. In fact, it was an obscure place, considered both insignificant and unimportant. But note: God chose for His Son to minister there. This should speak to the hearts of believers. A believer should not feel embarrassed or less important to be placed in an obscure ministry by the Lord.

When Jesus was forced to withdraw, He did not withdraw from ministry. He did not become idle, sitting still and doing nothing. He ministered wherever He was. Ministering to people and meeting their needs and teaching and preaching the gospel were His life. To live was to minister.

Brothers Mock Jesus

John 7:3–5 ESV

3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him.

Jesus had four half-brothers whose names were James, Joses, Simon, and Judas. He also had some half-sisters who were not named (Mt. 13:55–56). Their attitude toward Jesus was one of extreme concern and embarrassment. His claim to be the Son of God embarrassed them immensely and led them to think He was beside Himself, that is, mad or insane.

Jesus, of course, did not heed the urgings of His family to cease making such phenomenal claims. He had to proclaim the truth: He was the Son of God, the very Bread of Life, the only One who could fill and satisfy men, giving them abundant and eternal life.

The embarrassment felt by the family was bound to be a heavy load, making the family extremely self-conscious and stirring some sense of responsibility for Jesus’ abnormal behavior. The brothers compensated for their embarrassment by mocking Jesus. Note their mockery: they challenged Him to go up to Jerusalem to the Feast and do His marvelous miracles there. They suggested that He was failing to help and to strengthen the disciples He left there when He withdrew and that if He really wanted to be acclaimed the Messiah, the Son of God, He had to prove Himself in the center of the nation, Jerusalem itself.

There was the hurt and ache of Jesus over the family. His heart was bound to be cut to the core by the family’s mockery, embarrassment, and unbelief. He was deeply hurt by their rejection.

Jesus’ suffering upon earth included the rejection of His earthly family. He is thereby able to succor everyone, no matter his trial, even the person who stands alone in the world, having been rejected by his own family.

The response of Jesus’ family, in particular His brothers, was embarrassment, mockery, and unbelief. The unbelief of the brothers was a persistent, continuing attitude

Jesus Response

John 7:6–9 ESV

6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

Jesus’ reply to mockery, ridicule, sarcasm, and unbelief was threefold.

It was not time (the day) for His acclaim, not time for the world to accept and acknowledge His claims and works, not yet. The day was coming. There was a time appointed by God, a destined time. Note that Jesus had turned the mockery into a teaching situation. He used the very point of the mockery against His claims and works and made the claim again. There would be a time, a day, when He would be acclaimed, but not then. The time for man’s acclaim is now. Jesus said to his brothers, “Your time—man’s time, the world’s time—is now.” It should be noted that some interpret “time” to mean “the opportune time.” In this interpretation Jesus was simply saying it was not the best time for Him to attend the feast. His brothers could go anytime, but He could not. This interpretation is based on the word time (kairos, which stresses opportune time). It differs from the word usually used for Jesus’ hour (hora, Jn. 2:4). However, kairos is a frequently used word in the New Testament, and its meaning cannot be held to opportune time.

It is time for the world’s works to be proclaimed as being evil. Christ said “It is time for the world’s reaction against me, not time for its acceptance.” Because of this, the fact that He proclaimed the truth, the world hated Him and would not acknowledge and acclaim Him. It was time for the world’s reaction against Him, not time for its acceptance. It is time for man’s acceptance, time for the men of the world to accept each other. His brothers were part of the world, and the world does not hate its own. Therefore, the world receives those who look at Christ and mock, ridicule, criticize, reject, and treat Him sarcastically. The world does not hate, but welcomes, opposition to Jesus Christ. This is the time and the day when the works of the world must be proclaimed evil. The truth must be preached and proclaimed by the ministers of God. The world cannot be saved unless the evil of the world is acknowledged and corrected. It is the task of God’s people to proclaim the truth; however, it must be proclaimed as Jesus proclaimed it: in love, appealing to the desperate needs of man.

It is not time for Jesus’ full revelation. Note the words “full come” or “fully come” (peplerotai). His predestined hour to die for the world was not to be, not yet. It was to come, but in God’s time. And when it came, His claims and works would be validated and proven beyond question. Many would proclaim Him to be both Lord and Savior, the Bread of Life who alone can fill and satisfy the desperate and starving needs of men.

Response of the Jews

John 7:10–19 ESV

10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. 14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?”

The second reaction or response to Jesus came from the Jewish crowds, including both religionists and pilgrims.

Jesus finally went up to Jerusalem to attend the Feast, but He did not go up with His brothers. They had left sometime before, probably in a large caravan. The caravans of the day were huge expeditions (see Lu. 2:43–44); therefore, He went quietly, almost in secret, so as not to attract too much attention. He was going to step forward to teach publicly, but He needed to be inconspicuous until that moment came (v.14). If He had traveled to Jerusalem publicly, the people might have escorted Him into the city, proclaiming Him King and causing His arrest before His “hour” (Jn. 7:6). The Triumphal Entry would have taken place too soon.

The Jews’ response was that of seeking Him and of questioning and murmuring about Him. The term “Jews” in this instance probably refers to all Jews, religionists and pilgrims. Everyone wanted to find Him: the Jewish authorities wanted to entrap and discredit Him before the people, for they wished to have Him arrested and sentenced to death. The common people wanted to find Him so they could hear His teaching and see His miracles for themselves.

The Jewish crowds are to be commended for having sought Christ, for He is to be sought. Every man should seek Christ until He is found. But the motives of the religionists were evil. They were not seeking Jesus to worship and learn of Him, but to harm Him. They wanted to discredit Him, lest they lose the loyalty of the people and their own security and position. But the motives of the common people were corrupt. They were not seeking Jesus as Savior and Lord, the One to whom they owed their allegiance. They were seeking Him out of curiosity, to see Him perform spectacular miracles

The response of the Jewish crowds was that of murmuring and questioning. It was not a discontented murmuring, but that of whispering and buzzing about, excitedly so. People were quietly asking and discussing their opinions about Him in soft voices and off to the side, in the corners and away from strangers, lest they arouse the suspicion that they were followers of Jesus and endanger their own lives.

Some thought He was a good man: a man to be supported, listened to, and heeded.

Some thought Jesus was the exact opposite: a deceiver, a man who was deliberately deceiving and leading the people away from the true religion.

Some thought Jesus was a man not significant enough to defend. Even those who felt Jesus was a good man cowered in fear rather than speak up for Jesus. They feared the religious authorities. They felt Jesus was not worth the bother, the cost, the risk of jeopardizing their own safety.

Some thought Jesus was a man unaccredited and without proper credentials. About the middle of the Feast, Jesus ended His seclusion and hiding. He went into the temple and began teaching. The people were astonished; they marveled at His knowledge of the “letters.” “Letters” would mean both the Bible of the Old Testament and the commentaries or Scribal Law expounding the Scriptures. He had never been a student of their school or of a Rabbi, yet He knew the Scriptures well. Their question was asked in contempt: “How does this man know so much? Who is He claiming to be? What right does He have to teach? He has never learned or studied in our schools, under our teachers. He is a mere carpenter, uneducated, and unlearned. What right does He have to set Himself up as a great teacher, a person to be heard? He is not accredited nor ordained by our schools and leaders.”

Jesus made the phenomenal claim: “My doctrine [teaching] is not mine, but God’s.” He did not claim to be the Source of His message. He claimed to be “sent” by God, to be the Representative, the Ambassador of God. He claimed to have been in the most intimate relationship with God: in His presence, communion, and fellowship. He claimed that His message and teaching were God’s. He was only the Messenger of God.

Jesus said a person can actually test His claim. There is the subjective test, the inward or moral test. How can a person know if Jesus’ claim is true? He can know by doing God’s will. If a person will do what God says, that person will know the truth. There is the objective test, the outward or observation test. Does Christ speak for His own glory or for God’s glory? A person can look at Christ and observe and see the truth. There is the personal test. A person can use the law to tell if Christ is true. A man can measure himself by the law and clearly see that he does not keep it. He breaks the law; therefore, he stands in need of God’s forgiveness. This was exactly what Christ was preaching and teaching. He cried out that God loved the world and had sent His Son to save the world.